Sometimes tour guides just mysteriously disappear for a few months for no adequately explained reason. That's a thing that just happens as you take A Tour of Sunnydale.
Prophecy Girl is the twelfth and final episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was both written and directed by showrunner Joss Whedon, in his first directorial credit on the show and third writing credit. His other writing credits came in the opening two parter, a solid pair of episodes. Prophecy Girl is ranked 13th on The Phi Phenomenon, making it the most popular episode we've seen, beating out the previous top dog Angel at number 24.
Prophecy Girl is the first instance of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I truly love. This is the first story in Buffy that's completely impossible to pull off if you think of the show episodically. In a lot of ways, Prophecy Girl is the culmination of all the disparate things that Season 1 had going for it. Though it's a markedly darker and more mature take on the series, Prophecy Girl still sits comfortably alongside things like Nightmares or Witch, due to its unrelenting, unflinching focus on its characters above everything else.
Unlike some of the weaker episodes of Season 1, like I Robot, You Jane, Prophecy Girl never lets itself just become the story it's telling. Every single beat of the episode is there in service of the exploration of Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow. From the surprisingly comfortable and homey beginning to the tense end battle, Prophecy Girl is concerned first and foremost with ensuring its characters both are consistent with who they were before and keep moving forward and evolving. Our main four all go through transformative and character-defining moments here.
Buffy's arc is by far the most simple to see, as she goes from the girl she's been throughout most of the first season to the slayer she'll be throughout the rest of the show. Whilst her dual identity as both regular girl and super-powered slayer will never stop being a core part of both her and the show's identity, it's here that the two parts of her stop being in conflict. The moment in the library, where she overhears Giles and Angel talking about how she's destined to fight the Master and loose, is tremendously emotionally affecting -largely due to some possibly career-best acting from Sarah Michelle Gellar- but it's also the last big conflict between Buffy the girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Once she sees Willow's distress at what happens in the AV room, Buffy the girl never acts up throughout the rest of the show. From now on, it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer who truly is the main character of the show, and the girl in her only comes out in moments when she doesn't need to be the Slayer any more. It's a tremendously powerful portrayal of both the end of Buffy's childhood and the start of her adulthood. Metaphorically, one could say that the Master did kill Buffy - but just the part of her that wasn't willing to accept the responsibility of her duty as a Slayer.
Buffy is obviously central to this episode, but that doesn't mean the rest of the cast is static. Giles has a beautiful arc where he quietly accepts that Buffy is more than just his Slayer - she's someone he loves and is willing to die to protect. It's not a showy arc, and it's played in the background to Buffy's evolution through the episode, as Giles' realization is completely motivated by her actions, but it's touching nonetheless. This is some of the tenderness that I felt was missing from the character through most of the season. Xander, similarly, accepts Buffy as a friend, and gives up on any pretentions that she'll have romantic interest in him, realizing just how much their friendship truly means to him. I mean, that does happen in this episode, but it's cut short by the fact that he'll be back to being creepy and annoying over his crush on her in the next season. For now, though, I'm surprised at how final Xander accepting Buffy as dear a friend, nothing more and nothing less, felt in Prophecy Girl, an effective and very clear finalization of his arc throughout the season.
Willow's arc through the episode is by far the quietest and such hardest to see, but it's there. For the first half, we're shown her as frail and lacking confidence, but as truly kind-hearted, to the point where she kind of lets her feelings be trampled over. When Xander is rejected by Buffy and invites Willow to the prom as his backup, however, her frailty disappears, she rejects him, respecting herself enough to not allow herself to be used this way. From here, she gains confidence, and manages to keep up - and even get along - with Cordelia until the two find the remains of the massacre in the AV room. At this point, Willow's self-control and newly gained is dashed, and the state of utter dread and despair that Buffy finds her in is what motivates Buffy to sacrifice herself in order to try to stop the Master. But Willow comes back to help and fight alongside the others, finally reafirmed in her own worth as she proves invaluable in the ensuing battle. Prophecy Girl is the origin story of the quiet self-confidence that will lead Willow to evolve from here all the way to the end of the show, and that makes her my favorite character in the show.
Even removing all this context, however, Prophecy Girl is a solid piece of writing, a compelling story with a supremely engaging third act and a satisfying climax. Prophecy Girl is funny and moving in the way that only Buffy is. This is the first true triumph for the series, a phenomenal piece of work. It's got so many fantastic little moments, too - how cute Willow is at the start as she listens to Xander prepare his confession to Buffy and she pretends it's to her, the fantastic way Giles is disheveled and nervous throughout the episode, the fantastic moment when Joyce gives Buffy the dress, the Master's ham, Xander saying he's going to lie down and listen to country music and then actually doing it, the amazing imagery of Buffy in the leather jacket and white dress with a crossbow...
Here's ranking and rating: The ranking is of all episodes of Buffy and Angel I've watched so far, with 1 being the best one, and the rating is out of ten in context of the quality of the show: I'm essentially trying to decide what 10% of quality of that particular show the episode belongs in. Because both shows are so good, this means negative ratings are not neccesarily a diss on the episode - I just think it's one of the show's weaker ones.
This goes at the top of the list, no contest.
Ranked List
Rating: 9/10
Among the best of Buffy, but this show is so fantastic that even this level of quality is not near the top. I expect this to come in at around number 20 by the end of the show's run.
Prophecy Girl is the twelfth and final episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was both written and directed by showrunner Joss Whedon, in his first directorial credit on the show and third writing credit. His other writing credits came in the opening two parter, a solid pair of episodes. Prophecy Girl is ranked 13th on The Phi Phenomenon, making it the most popular episode we've seen, beating out the previous top dog Angel at number 24.
Prophecy Girl is the first instance of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I truly love. This is the first story in Buffy that's completely impossible to pull off if you think of the show episodically. In a lot of ways, Prophecy Girl is the culmination of all the disparate things that Season 1 had going for it. Though it's a markedly darker and more mature take on the series, Prophecy Girl still sits comfortably alongside things like Nightmares or Witch, due to its unrelenting, unflinching focus on its characters above everything else.
Unlike some of the weaker episodes of Season 1, like I Robot, You Jane, Prophecy Girl never lets itself just become the story it's telling. Every single beat of the episode is there in service of the exploration of Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow. From the surprisingly comfortable and homey beginning to the tense end battle, Prophecy Girl is concerned first and foremost with ensuring its characters both are consistent with who they were before and keep moving forward and evolving. Our main four all go through transformative and character-defining moments here.
Buffy's arc is by far the most simple to see, as she goes from the girl she's been throughout most of the first season to the slayer she'll be throughout the rest of the show. Whilst her dual identity as both regular girl and super-powered slayer will never stop being a core part of both her and the show's identity, it's here that the two parts of her stop being in conflict. The moment in the library, where she overhears Giles and Angel talking about how she's destined to fight the Master and loose, is tremendously emotionally affecting -largely due to some possibly career-best acting from Sarah Michelle Gellar- but it's also the last big conflict between Buffy the girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Once she sees Willow's distress at what happens in the AV room, Buffy the girl never acts up throughout the rest of the show. From now on, it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer who truly is the main character of the show, and the girl in her only comes out in moments when she doesn't need to be the Slayer any more. It's a tremendously powerful portrayal of both the end of Buffy's childhood and the start of her adulthood. Metaphorically, one could say that the Master did kill Buffy - but just the part of her that wasn't willing to accept the responsibility of her duty as a Slayer.
Buffy is obviously central to this episode, but that doesn't mean the rest of the cast is static. Giles has a beautiful arc where he quietly accepts that Buffy is more than just his Slayer - she's someone he loves and is willing to die to protect. It's not a showy arc, and it's played in the background to Buffy's evolution through the episode, as Giles' realization is completely motivated by her actions, but it's touching nonetheless. This is some of the tenderness that I felt was missing from the character through most of the season. Xander, similarly, accepts Buffy as a friend, and gives up on any pretentions that she'll have romantic interest in him, realizing just how much their friendship truly means to him. I mean, that does happen in this episode, but it's cut short by the fact that he'll be back to being creepy and annoying over his crush on her in the next season. For now, though, I'm surprised at how final Xander accepting Buffy as dear a friend, nothing more and nothing less, felt in Prophecy Girl, an effective and very clear finalization of his arc throughout the season.
Willow's arc through the episode is by far the quietest and such hardest to see, but it's there. For the first half, we're shown her as frail and lacking confidence, but as truly kind-hearted, to the point where she kind of lets her feelings be trampled over. When Xander is rejected by Buffy and invites Willow to the prom as his backup, however, her frailty disappears, she rejects him, respecting herself enough to not allow herself to be used this way. From here, she gains confidence, and manages to keep up - and even get along - with Cordelia until the two find the remains of the massacre in the AV room. At this point, Willow's self-control and newly gained is dashed, and the state of utter dread and despair that Buffy finds her in is what motivates Buffy to sacrifice herself in order to try to stop the Master. But Willow comes back to help and fight alongside the others, finally reafirmed in her own worth as she proves invaluable in the ensuing battle. Prophecy Girl is the origin story of the quiet self-confidence that will lead Willow to evolve from here all the way to the end of the show, and that makes her my favorite character in the show.
Even removing all this context, however, Prophecy Girl is a solid piece of writing, a compelling story with a supremely engaging third act and a satisfying climax. Prophecy Girl is funny and moving in the way that only Buffy is. This is the first true triumph for the series, a phenomenal piece of work. It's got so many fantastic little moments, too - how cute Willow is at the start as she listens to Xander prepare his confession to Buffy and she pretends it's to her, the fantastic way Giles is disheveled and nervous throughout the episode, the fantastic moment when Joyce gives Buffy the dress, the Master's ham, Xander saying he's going to lie down and listen to country music and then actually doing it, the amazing imagery of Buffy in the leather jacket and white dress with a crossbow...
Here's ranking and rating: The ranking is of all episodes of Buffy and Angel I've watched so far, with 1 being the best one, and the rating is out of ten in context of the quality of the show: I'm essentially trying to decide what 10% of quality of that particular show the episode belongs in. Because both shows are so good, this means negative ratings are not neccesarily a diss on the episode - I just think it's one of the show's weaker ones.
This goes at the top of the list, no contest.
Ranked List
Rating: 9/10
Among the best of Buffy, but this show is so fantastic that even this level of quality is not near the top. I expect this to come in at around number 20 by the end of the show's run.
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